On the line

LSU still has control of its own destiny—at least it would seem so. If the Tigers win this game and keep on rolling, which means beating Alabama in Death Valley on Nov. 3 and then just plain not losing again through the SEC title game, of course they’ll wind up playing for the BCS title in Miami on Jan. 7. Right? Again, pedigree.

“I don’t know if a loss of confidence is something that happens after one game,” Les Miles said earlier this week. “But it is very important. … I think our team has not lost its confidence.”

But the Gamecocks have an opportunity unlike any they’ve seemed capable of taking advantage of before. If they win this game—and why can’t they?—they might move up to No. 2 in the polls. They’ll start getting some No. 1 votes, too. Point is, South Carolina, which doesn’t face the Crimson Tide during the regular season—but does play at Florida a week from Saturday—controls its own destiny, too.

“At the beginning of the season,” Steve Spurrier said, “we looked at it and we knew this four-game stretch of Georgia, LSU, Florida and Tennessee is going to make or break our season.”

Sideline view

LSU ranks 12th in the SEC in passing offense—so much for Zach Mettenberger being the Tigers’ big-time answer at quarterback. Despite Mettenberger’s undeniable arm strength, this still isn’t a team that throws the ball with any sort of reliability.

So look for a low-scoring game, with the Tigers running the ball as much as South Carolina allows them to and the Gamecocks pounding Marcus Lattimore and giving quarterback Connor Shaw a bunch of designed runs.

The questions: Can the Gamecocks control possession with the run against what clearly is one of the most athletic and physical defensive fronts in college football? And will Les Miles and his staff maintain the patience to stick with the run themselves, given the temptation to try to open the field with big plays?

Critical matchup

Watch LSU running back Spencer Ware vs. the Gamecocks’ terrific run defense, which is allowing 83.8 yards per game to rank ninth in the country and second (to Alabama) in the SEC. The Tigers hope to impose the 5-11, 225-pound junior on South Carolina early and often—not just with handoffs but out of the Wildcat formation.

“We need to give Spencer Ware more touches,” Miles said. “He’s a dangerous weapon and somebody we have to use more.”

Backpedal

South Carolina hasn’t beaten LSU since 1994. That sounds like one team destroying the other, does it not? But it isn’t: The teams have met four times in the regular season over the past 16 years. In other words, these teams hardly know each other.

LSU won 24-17 in Columbia, S.C., in 2008, the last meeting in the series. We’d tell you about that one, but who cares?

The pick

LSU 24, South Carolina 16. Somebody’s going to make a big play for LSU; somebody’s going to run back a kick or score a defensive touchdown. It’s time. And that’s all the Tigers, with their talent, need to get on the move toward a banner season. Then again, maybe it won’t happen. Guess we’ll have to see this Gamecocks win before we can believe it.